Patent Application
20220214369
The present invention relates to an automatic analysis device, and more particularly, to an automatic analysis device including a mechanism for adjusting a temperature of a portion requiring temperature adjustment.
As an example of an automatic analysis device that can stably adjust temperature regardless of change in outside air temperature by realizing with a simple, space-saving, and cost-saving mechanism, Patent Document 1 describes that temperature of a heat transfer block is controlled intermittently, for example, the temperature of the heat transfer block is controlled based on opening and closing control of a replacement liquid electromagnetic valve.
PTL 1: JP-A-2017-26469
The automatic analysis device is a device for optically measuring a reaction solution by dispensing a specimen solution containing an analysis target material and a reaction reagent into a reaction vessel and reacting the specimen solution with the reaction reagent. In such an automatic analysis device, for example, specific biological components and chemical materials contained in biological specimens such as blood, serum, and urine are detected.
In order to obtain sufficient analysis accuracy in the automatic analysis device, it is necessary to maintain the temperature of the reagents used for pretreatment and analysis of the specimen constant.
As a method of adjusting the temperature of the reagent in the automatic analysis device, as in Patent Document 1, it is known that the temperature of the reagent in the pretreatment process of analysis is adjusted by the Peltier element, and the liquid that is intermittently flowed to cool or heat the Peltier element is used, thereby the temperature of the reagent can be stably adjusted regardless of a change in the outside air temperature.
In this Patent Document 1,the temperature of the replacement liquid tank for storing the replacement liquid is adjusted by the Peltier element, but the temperature is controlled independently of the other portions that require being temperature-adjusted.
In the automatic analysis device, there exist a plurality of portions that require being adjusted at different temperature levels such as a portion that requires being adjusted to a low temperature, but as a result of intensive studies by the present inventors, it is clarified that there is a room for performing temperature control with less power consumption over the entire portions that require a plurality of temperature adjustments.
An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic analysis device capable of temperature-controlling a plurality of portions requiring temperature control with less power consumption as a whole.
The present invention includes a plurality of means for solving the above-mentioned problems, and as an example, provided is an automatic analysis device which reacts a specimen with a reagent and measures physical properties of a reacted reaction solution, the device including: a space which is partitioned from surroundings and where the reagent is used; an air conditioning unit which includes a first Peltier element for adjusting an air temperature of the space; a first heat sink which cools or heats the air conditioning unit with a liquid refrigerant; a first radiator which performs heat exchange between the liquid refrigerant which has exchanged heat with the first heat sink and air in the atmosphere; a liquid supply unit which circulates the liquid refrigerant; a reagent storage unit which keeps the reagent cools and stores the reagent; a reagent storage temperature adjusting unit which includes a second Peltier element for adjusting the temperature of the reagent storage unit; a second heat sink which cools or heats the second Peltier element; and a heat dissipation unit which dissipates heat of the liquid refrigerant which has exchanged heat with the second heat sink.
According to the present invention, it is possible to control the temperature of a plurality of portions that require the temperature control with less power consumption as a whole.
Problems, configurations, and effects other than those mentioned above will be clarified by the description of the following examples.
Hereinafter, examples of an automatic analysis device of the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings. It is noted that the automatic analysis device to which the present invention is applied is not particularly limited, and may be applied to various types of automatic analysis devices such as an automatic analysis device for immunological item analysis and an automatic analysis device for biochemical item analysis.
Example 1 of the automatic analysis device of the present invention will be described with reference to
First, an outline of an overall configuration of the automatic analysis device and an outline configuration of a temperature adjustment mechanism will be described with reference to
An automatic analysis device 1000 illustrated in
The analysis unit 500 may be configured with a mechanism other than the mechanisms described later among a mechanism for measuring the physical properties of the reaction solution, a mechanism for executing a treatment or a post-treatment of reacting a specimen with a reagent necessary for measuring the physical properties, and treatments associated with these various treatments, and can be configured to have a known configuration. In addition, known operations may also be used for those operations.
The automatic analysis device 1000 illustrated in
Among these components, the air-conditioned space 20 is partitioned from a surrounding space by an insulating material 22, and is air-conditioned so as to keep a temperature of an internal air 21 constant.
The internal air 21 of the air-conditioned space 20 is circulated by a fan 25, and thus, the internal air is cooled or heated when passing through an internal fin 23 portion. The internal fin 23 is connected to a Peltier unit 1.
The reagent storage unit 30 is a space for storing the reagent, and an internal space 31 thereof is maintained at a relatively low temperature (for example, 5 to 10° C.) as compared with the air-conditioned space 20. The internal space 31 is surrounded by a metal container 32 made of stainless steel or the like, and the surrounding thereof is partitioned from the surrounding space by an insulating material 33.
Next, the configuration for adjusting the air temperature of the air-conditioned space 20 will be described with reference to
A Peltier element 101 that adjusts the air temperature of the air-conditioned space 20 is incorporated into the Peltier unit 1 illustrated in
An output of the Peltier element 101, that is, a cooling capacity and a heating capacity, is controlled by repeating operation and stop with a predetermined current and changing a ratio of an operation time, that is, an operating rate. Alternatively, instead of changing the operating rate, a magnitude of the current applied to the Peltier element 101 may be directly changed.
The operating rate and the current are controlled by the control device 50 of
The control device 50 can be realized by loading programs into a computer or a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) including a CPU, a memory, an interface, and the like and executing a calculation. These programs are stored in an internal recording medium or an external recording medium (not illustrated) in each configuration and are read and executed by the CPU.
It is noted that the control process of the operation of each mechanism of the control device 50 may be integrated into one program, may be divided into a plurality of programs, or may be a combination thereof. In addition, a portion or all of the programs may be realized by dedicated hardware or may be modularized. Furthermore, various programs may be provided to each device from a program distribution server, an internal recording medium, or an external recording medium.
As illustrated in
The heat diffusion plate 203 is connected to a temperature control object, that is, a base 24 of the internal fin 23 in
In addition, as illustrated in
The heat sink 111 is a member for cooling or heating the Peltier unit 1 with a liquid refrigerant (hereinafter, referred to as a circulating liquid).
As illustrated in
Furthermore, the heat diffusion plate 203 is surrounded by a resin thermal interface 204, an insulating material 205, and a space 206. It is noted that air can be used instead of the insulating material 205, and the insulating material can be disposed in the space 206.
The Peltier element 101 of this Example is energized so that, when the temperature detected by a temperature sensor 121 in
At this time, the base 24 of the internal fins of
On the other hand, the side of the heat sink 111 of the Peltier element 101 is heated, and heat is dissipated to the circulating liquid flowing inside the heat sink 111 via the thermal interface 201 such as grease.
The circulating liquid is a medium for carrying heat, and pure water, ethylene glycol aqueous solution, and the like are used. In
In
A plurality of flow paths 214 interposed between fins 213 are formed in the internal space of the heat sink 111, and the circulating liquid flows therebetween. This circulating liquid takes heat from the Peltier element 101 connected to a casing 210 of the heat sink via the thermal interface 201 or applies heat to the Peltier element 101. The fins 213 play a role in increasing the heat transfer area and improving the heat exchange performance. Aluminum, copper, or the like is used as the material of the casing 210 and the fins 213 of the heat sink 111.
In
The details of the first radiator 12 will be described in detail later with reference to
On the other hand, when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 121 in
At this time, the circulating liquid cooled by the heat sink 111 reaches the first radiator 12, where the circulating liquid is heated by the air sent by the radiator fan 14. After that, the circulating liquid is sucked into the pump 10 via the tank 15 and sent to the heat sink 111 of the Peltier unit 1 through the tube 60 as described above.
A first loop is formed by the tubes 60 and 61 connecting the heat sink 111, the first radiator 12, and the pump 10.
Next, the reagent storage unit 30 and the configuration for controlling the temperature of the reagent storage unit 30 will be described.
As illustrated in
In addition, the circulating liquid for cooling and heating is sent to heat sinks 112, 113, and 114 of the Peltier units 2, 3, and 4 through a tube 62 by a pump 11.
Since the structures of the Peltier units 2, 3, and 4 are the same as those of the Peltier unit 1 described above, the details will be omitted.
The Peltier elements 102, 103, and 104 are controlled by the control device 50 so that the temperature of temperature sensors 122, 123, and 124 becomes the target temperature.
For example, when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 122 provided on the outer surface of the metal container 32 of the reagent storage unit 30 is higher than the target temperature, the Peltier element 102 is controlled so as to energize in the direction in which the temperature on the side of the metal container 32 is decreased.
Similarly, when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 123 is higher than the target temperature, the Peltier element 102 is energized in the direction in which the temperature on the side of the metal container 32 is decreased, and when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 124 is higher than the target temperature, the Peltier element 104 is energized in the direction in which the temperature on the side of the metal container 32 is decreased.
At this time, the surfaces of the Peltier elements 102, 103, and 104 on the sides of the heat sinks 112, 113, and 114 generate heat, so that the temperature is increased, but the surfaces of the Peltier elements 102, 103, and 104 are cooled by the circulating liquid flowing through the heat sinks 112, 113, and 114.
The circulating liquid flows from the pump 11 through the tube 62 in the order of the heat sink 114 of the Peltier unit 4, the heat sink 113 of the Peltier unit 3, and the heat sink 112 of the Peltier unit 2 to be heated and reaches a second radiator 13 through a tube 63.
In the second radiator 13, the circulating liquid is cooled by the air sent by the radiator fan 14, so that the temperature is decreased, and the liquid is sucked into the pump 11 via the tank 16 so as to be sent to the Peltier unit 4.
A second loop is formed by the tubes 62 and 63 connecting the heat sinks 112, 113, and 114, the second radiator 13, and the pump 11 circulating the circulating liquid.
On the other hand, when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 122 provided in the reagent storage unit 30 is lower than the target temperature, the Peltier element 102 is controlled so as to be energized in the direction in which the temperature on the side of the metal container 32 is increased. At this time, the temperature of the Peltier element 102 on the heat sink 112 side is decreased, but the temperature of the Peltier element 102 is heated by the circulating liquid flowing through the heat sink 112.
Similarly, when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 123 is lower than the target temperature, the Peltier element 103 is energized in the direction in which the temperature on the side of the metal container 32 is increased. In addition, when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 124 is higher than the target temperature, the Peltier element 104 is energized in the direction in which the temperature on the side of the metal container 32 is increased.
The surfaces of the Peltier elements 102, 103, and 104 on the heat sinks 112, 113, and 114 sides are cooled to be decreased in temperature, but the surfaces of the Peltier elements 102, 103, and 104 are heated by the circulating liquid flowing through the heat sinks 112, 113, and 114.
Next, the configuration of the radiator for adjusting the temperature of the circulating liquid will be described with reference to
In the automatic analysis device 1000 of this Example, as illustrated in
In the flow of the air generated by the radiator fan 14, the first radiator 12 having a small area is on the upstream side and the second radiator 13 having a large area is on the downstream side, and the first radiator 12 and the second radiator 13 are disposed in series so as to perform heat exchange.
Here, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
The first radiator 12 includes a flow path 305 through which the circulating liquid flows and fins 306 provided therebetween. The same also applies to the second radiator 13. Aluminum or the like is used as the material of the flow path 305 and the fin 306.
In
Next, the effect of this Example will be described.
In the automatic analysis device 1000 of this Example described above, considered is the case where the temperature around the device is relatively low due to in the winter or the like, but the temperature is higher than the target temperature of the reagent storage unit 30.
In this case, the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 121 of the air-conditioned space 20 is lower than the target temperature, and the temperature detected by the temperature sensors 122, 123, and 124 of the reagent storage unit 30 becomes higher than the target temperature.
At this time, the Peltier element 101 performs the operation of heating the side of the air-conditioned space 20, and the circulating liquid is cooled by the heat sink 111 and transported to the first radiator 12. On the other hand, the Peltier elements 102, 103, and 104 perform the operation of cooling the side of the reagent storage unit 30, and the circulating liquid of the heat sinks 112, 113, and 114 is heated and transported to the second radiator 13.
At this time, the air cooled by passing through the first radiator 12 cools the second radiator 13 according to the arrangement relationship as illustrated in
That is, as compared with the case where each radiator is cooled independently, in the present invention, the amount of heat dissipated from the second radiator 13 is increased by additionally cooling by the first radiator 12, and the Peltier elements 102, 103, and 104 can cool the reagent storage unit 30 with a smaller current, that is, a smaller power consumption.
In addition, considered is the case where the temperature around the device is relatively high due to in the summer. In this case, the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 121 in the air-conditioned space 20 becomes higher than the target temperature.
For this reason, the circulating liquid is heated in the heat sink 111 to reach the first radiator 12, so that the air passing through the first radiator 12 is heated.
Here, since the target temperature of the air-conditioned space 20 is lower than the target temperature of the reagent storage unit 30 and the cooling load is smaller than that of the reagent storage unit 30, the heating amount of the circulating liquid in the heat sink 111 is relatively small.
For this reason, the temperature increase of the air that has passed through the first radiator 12 is also relatively small. Moreover, since the front area of the first radiator 12 is smaller than the front area of the second radiator 13, the circulating liquid in the second radiator 13 can be sufficiently cooled, so that the cooling that is the same as in the related art can be realized.
As described above, in the automatic analysis device 1000 of this Example, it is possible to perform the temperature control of the air-conditioned space 20 and the reagent storage unit 30 which require the temperature control with lower power consumption than the related art.
An automatic analysis device according to Example 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to
In Example 2, the same configurations as those in Example 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. The same applies to the following examples. In addition, in
In the automatic analysis device 1000 of Example 1, the first radiator 12 and the second radiator 13 are disposed so as to perform heat exchange, but in the automatic analysis device 1000A of this Example, a first radiator 12A and a second radiator 13B are disposed so as not to perform heat exchange with the air but to perform heat exchange with the circulating liquid.
Specifically, as illustrated in
The loop of the circulating liquid in this Example is not the two loops as in Example 1 but one big loop formed by a tube 64A which guides the circulating liquid that has exchanged heat with the first radiator 12A to the heat sinks 112, 113, and 114, a tube 63A which guides the circulating liquid that has exchanged heat with the heat sinks 112, 113, and 114 to a second radiator 13A, a tube 65A which guides the circulating liquid that has exchanged heat with the second radiator 13A to the pump 10, and a tube 60A which guides the liquid from the pump 10 to the heat sink 111.
In this Example, one pump 10 and one tank 15 are provided, and the circulating liquid sent by the pump 10 passes through the tube 60A, and flows into the heat sink 111 of the Peltier unit 1 provided in the air-conditioned space 20.
After that, the circulating liquid flows into the first radiator 12 via a tube 61A, and after the heat exchange, the circulating liquid flows into the heat sink 114 of the Peltier unit 4 provided to the reagent storage unit 30 via the tube 64A.
After flowing into the heat sink 114, the circulating liquid flows into the second radiator 13 via the tube 63A via the heat sink 113 of the Peltier unit 3 and the heat sink 112 of the Peltier unit 2. After further heat exchange in the second radiator 13 is performed, the circulating liquid returns to the pump 10 from the tank 15 via the tube 65A.
Other configurations and operations are substantially the same as those of the automatic analysis device 1000 of Example 1 described above, and the details will be omitted.
Next, the effect of the automatic analysis device 1000A of Example 2 will be described.
First, considered is the case where the temperature around the device is relatively low due to in the winter or the like, but the temperature is higher than the target temperature of the reagent storage unit 30.
In this case, the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 121 of the air-conditioned space 20 is lower than the target temperature, and the temperature detected by the temperature sensors 122, 123, and 124 of the reagent storage unit 30 becomes higher than the target temperature.
At this time, the circulating liquid is cooled in the heat sink 111 and transported to the first radiator 12A, but the radiator fan 17 of the first radiator 12A is stopped, and thus, the circulating liquid in a state where the circulating liquid is not so heated by the first radiator 12A is supplied to the heat sinks 112 of the Peltier units 2, 3, and 4.
With such a configuration and operation, the circulating liquid cooled in the heat sink 111 can be directly supplied to the heat sinks 112, 113, and 114 of the Peltier units 2, 3, and 4, so that the Peltier units 2, 3, and 4 can be efficiently cooled, and thus, it is possible to realize the temperature control with lower power consumption.
Next, considered is the case where the temperature around the device is relatively high due to in the summer.
In this case, the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 121 in the air-conditioned space 20 becomes higher than the target temperature. For this reason, the circulating liquid heated in the heat sink 111 reaches the first radiator 12A, and the circulating liquid cooled by the air blown by the radiator fan 17 is supplied to the heat sinks 112, 113, and 114 of the Peltier units 2, 3, and 4.
Therefore, since the circulating liquid cooled by the first radiator 12 is supplied to the heat sinks 112, 113, and 114, the Peltier units 2, 3, and 4 can be more efficiently cooled than the case of simply cooling the Peltier units, and thus, it is possible to realize the temperature control with lower power consumption.
As described above, similarly to the automatic analysis device 1000 of Example 1 described above, the automatic analysis device 1000A of this Example can also realize the temperature control of the air-conditioned space 20 and the reagent storage unit 30 with less power consumption than the related art.
An automatic analysis device according to Example 3 of the present invention will be described with reference to
As illustrated in
Out of the two flow paths, the first radiator 12B is disposed on the one flow path 71B side, so that the air that has exchanged heat with the second radiator 13B passes through the first radiator 12B and is guided to the outside.
A damper 72 that switches the air guided to the flow path 71B between the air from the flow path 71A and the air from an air inlet port 74 is provided on the flow path 71B side. The position of the damper 72 is controlled by the control device 50.
The air inlet port 74 is provided at a position in front of the first radiator 12B of the flow path 71B and is an opening for guiding the air from the outside of the flow path 71B to the flow path 71B.
Nothing is disposed on the other flow path 71C side, and the air that has exchanged heat with the second radiator 13B is directly guided to the outside.
Considered is the case where the temperature around the automatic analysis device 1000B of this Example is relatively low due to in the winter or the like, but the temperature is higher than the target temperature of the reagent storage unit 30.
In this case, similarly to Example 1, the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 121 of the air-conditioned space 20 becomes lower than the target temperature, and the temperature detected by the temperature sensors 122, 123, and 124 of the reagent storage unit 30 becomes higher than the target temperature.
At this time, the circulating liquid cooled in the heat sink 111 is transported to the first radiator 12B via the tube 60, and the circulating liquid heated in the heat sinks 112, 113, and 114 is transported to the second radiator 13B via the tube 63.
At this time, the damper 72 of the duct 71 is set at the position A in
Of the airs, since the air heated by the second radiator 13B exchanges heat when passing through the first radiator 12B to heat the circulating liquid, the heated circulating liquid is supplied to the heat sink 111, so that the power consumption of the Peltier element 101 for heating the air-conditioned space 20 can be reduced, and thus, energy-saving operation is realized. At this time, further power saving operation can be performed by appropriately adjusting the rotation speeds of the radiator fan 14B and the fan 73 to distribute the wind volume.
On the other hand, when the temperature around the device is relatively high due to in the summer or the like, the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 121 in the air-conditioned space 20 becomes higher than the target temperature. In this case, the circulating liquid heated by the heat sink 111 is sent to the first radiator 12B. At this time, the damper 72 is set to the position B.
For this reason, the air supplied to the first radiator 12B is supplied from the outside of the duct 71 through the air inlet port 74 as illustrated by an arrow 406 of the broken line illustrated in
For this reason, the air heated through the second radiator 13B does not pass through the first radiator 12B, so that sufficient cooling performance of the first radiator 12B is ensured.
At this time, in order to avoid frequent operations of the damper 72, the ambient temperature may be detected, and the position of the damper 72 may be determined to be any one of the position A and the position B accordingly.
Other configurations and operations are substantially the same as those of the automatic analysis device 1000 of Example 1 described above, and the details will be omitted.
In the automatic analysis device 1000B as in Example 3 of the present invention, substantially the same effect as that of the automatic analysis device 1000 and the like in Example 1 described above can be obtained.
An automatic analysis device according to Example 4 of the present invention will be described with reference to
As illustrated in
For this reason, the heat exhausted from the Peltier elements 102, 103, and 104 is transferred to the air cooling fins 80, 81, and 82, respectively, and the heat is further dissipated to the air flowing between the fins 80, 81, and 82 by the fans 83, 84, and 85, respectively. The air containing the heat exhausted from the fans 83, 84, and 85 is sent to the inside of the duct 86. The upstream portion of the duct 86 constitutes a fourth airflow path 86A which guides the air that has exchanged heat with the fins 80, 81, and 82 to the exhaust port or a first radiator 12C.
Furthermore, the downstream portion of the duct 86 is divided into two flow paths 86B and 86C by a partition 90.
Out of the two flow paths, the first radiator 12C is disposed on the one flow path 86B side, so that the air that has exchanged heat with the fins 80, 81, and 82 passes through the first radiator 12C and is guided to the outside.
A damper 87 that switches the air guided to the flow path 86B between the air from the flow path 86A and the air from the air inlet port 89 is provided on the flow path 86B side. The position of the damper 87 is controlled by the control device 50.
The air inlet port 89 is provided at a position in front of the first radiator 12C of the flow path 86B and is an opening for guiding the air from the outside of the flow path 86B to the flow path 86B.
Nothing is disposed in the other flow path 86C, and the air supplied from the flow path 86A that has exchanged heat with the fins 80, 81, and 82 is directly guided to the outside.
Other configurations and operations are substantially the same as those of the automatic analysis device 1000 of Example 1 described above, and the details will be omitted.
In the automatic analysis device 1000C of this Example, considered is the case where the temperature around the device is relatively low due to in the winter or the like, but the temperature is higher than the target temperature of the reagent storage unit 30.
In this case, the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 121 of the air-conditioned space 20 is lower than the target temperature, and the temperature detected by the temperature sensors 122, 123, and 124 of the reagent storage unit 30 becomes higher than the target temperature.
Therefore, the circulating liquid is cooled in the heat sink 111 and transported to the first radiator 12C. At this time, the damper 87 of the duct 86 is set to the position A. Accordingly, the air from the air cooling fins 80, 81, and 82 is distributed to the air indicated by the arrow 405 illustrated in
Since the circulating liquid flowing through the first radiator 12C is heated by the air passing through the first radiator 12C, the heated circulating liquid is supplied to the heat sink 111, so that the power consumption of the Peltier element 101 for heating the air-conditioned space 20 can be reduced.
At this time, by appropriately adjusting the rotation speeds of the radiator fan 14C and the fan 88 to distribute a wind volume, it is possible to operate with even lower power.
On the other hand, when the temperature around the device is relatively high in the summer or the like, the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 121 in the air-conditioned space 20 becomes higher than the target temperature.
For this reason, the damper 87 is set at the position B, the air supplied to the first radiator 12C is supplied from the outside of the duct 86 through the air inlet port 89 as illustrated by an arrow 407 of the broken line, and the air sent from the fans 83, 84, and 85 is exhausted by the fan 88 toward the arrow 406.
Accordingly, since the heated air from the fans 83, 84, and 85 does not pass through the first radiator 12C, sufficient cooling performance of the first radiator 12C is ensured.
Even in the automatic analysis device 1000C as in Example 4 of the present invention, since the Peltier unit 1 can be efficiently heated in substantially the same manner as in the above-mentioned automatic analysis device 1000 of Example 1, it is possible to realize the temperature control with lower power consumption.
An automatic analysis device according to Example 5 of the present invention will be described with reference to
As illustrated in
A replacement liquid tank 41 provided in the reagent temperature adjusting unit 40 is a container or a spiral pipe made of a metal such as stainless steel and is covered with a metal block 42 such as aluminum.
The metal block 42 is connected to a Peltier unit 5, and by cooling and heating the side of the metal block 42 of the Peltier element 105 incorporated in the Peltier unit 5, the metal block 42 is cooled and heated, and the replacement liquid of the inside of the replacement liquid tank 41 is cooled and heated.
Since the configuration of the Peltier unit 5 is the same as that of the Peltier unit 1 and the like, the details thereof will be omitted.
The Peltier element 105 is controlled by the control device 50 so that the temperature of a temperature sensor 125 provided in the metal block 42 portion becomes the target temperature.
The heat sink 115 of the Peltier unit 5 is connected to the downstream side of the heat sink 111 of the Peltier unit 1 of the air-conditioned space 20 by the tube 61 of the circulating liquid. The tube 64 of the circulating liquid discharged from the heat sink 115 is connected to a first radiator 12D.
Other configurations and operations are substantially the same as those of the automatic analysis device 1000 of Example 1 described above, and details are omitted.
In such the automatic analysis device 1000D of this Example, considered is the case where the temperature around the device is relatively low due to in the winter or the like, but the temperature around the device is higher than the target temperature of the reagent storage unit 30.
In this case, the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 121 of the air-conditioned space 20 and the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 125 of the reagent temperature adjusting unit 40 will be lower than the respective target temperatures, and the temperature detected by the temperature sensors 122, 123, and 124 of the reagent storage unit 30 becomes higher than the target temperature.
For this reason, the Peltier element 101 performs the operation of heating the side of the air-conditioned space 20, and the Peltier element 105 performs the operation of heating the metal block 42. Accordingly, the circulating liquid is cooled by the heat sinks 111 and 115 and transported to the first radiator 12D.
On the other hand, the Peltier elements 102, 103, and 104 perform the operation of cooling the side of the reagent storage unit 30, and the circulating liquid is heated in the heat sinks 112, 113, and 114 to be transported to the second radiator 13. In this case, since the air cooled by heat exchange in the first radiator 12D cools the second radiator 13, the amount of heat dissipated from the second radiator 13 is increased, and the reagent storage unit 30 can be cooled with a smaller current of the Peltier elements 102, 103, and 104.
Therefore, similarly to the automatic analysis device 1000 of Example 1 described above, in the automatic analysis device 1000D of Example 5 of the present invention, it is possible to perform the temperature control with lower power consumption.
It is noted that, in this example, the case where the reagent temperature adjusting unit 40 is added to Example 1 has been described, but the same effect of power saving can be obtained even when the reagent temperature adjusting unit 40 is added to any of the configurations of Examples 2, 3, and 4.
The present invention is not limited to the above examples, and includes various modifications. It is noted that the above-mentioned examples have been described in detail in order to explain the present invention for easy-understanding, and the examples are not necessarily limited to those having all the described configurations.
It is also possible to replace a portion of the configuration of one embodiment with a configuration of another embodiment, and it is also possible to add a configuration of another embodiment to a configuration of one embodiment. It is also possible to add, delete, and replace a portion of the configuration of each embodiment with another configuration.
For example, in the above description, a target to be adjusted to a relatively high temperature has been described as an example of an air-conditioned space and a reagent temperature adjusting unit for processing reagents, but the present invention can also be applied to temperature control and the like of the analysis unit 500 that performs analysis of the specimen illustrated in
1: Peltier unit (air conditioning unit)
2, 2C: Peltier units (reagent storage temperature adjusting unit)
3, 3C: Peltier units (reagent storage temperature adjusting unit)
4, 4C: Peltier units (reagent storage temperature adjusting unit)
5: Peltier unit
10, 11: Pumps (liquid supply unit)
12, 12A, 12B, 12C, 12D: First radiators
13, 13A, 13B: Second radiators (heat dissipation unit)
14, 14A, 14B, 14C, 17: Radiator fans (air blower)
15, 16: Tanks
20: Air-conditioned space (space where reagent is used)
21: Internal air of the air-conditioned space
22: Insulating material
23: Internal fin
24: Base
25: Fan
30: Reagent storage unit
31: Internal space
32: Metal container
33: Insulating material
40: Reagent temperature adjusting unit
41: Replacement liquid tank
42: Metal block
50: Control device
60, 60D, 61, 61D, 64D: Tubes (first liquid flow path)
60A: Tube (sixth liquid flow path)
61A: Tube (seventh liquid flow path)
62, 63: Tubes (second liquid flow path)
63A: Tube (fourth liquid flow path)
64A: Tube (third liquid flow path)
65A: Tube (fifth liquid flow path)
71, 86: Ducts
71A: Flow path (first airflow path)
71B: Flow path (second airflow path)
71C: Flow path (third airflow path)
72: Damper (first flow path switching unit)
73, 88: Fans
74: Air inlet port (first air inlet port)
75, 90: Partition
80, 81, 82: Air cooling fins
83, 84, 85: Fans
86A: Flow path (fourth airflow path)
86B: Flow path (fifth airflow path)
86C: Flow path (sixth airflow path)
87: Damper (second flow path switching unit)
89: Air inlet port (second air inlet port)
101: Peltier element (first Peltier element)
102, 103, 104: Peltier elements (second Peltier element)
105: Peltier element
111: Heat sink (first heat sink)
112, 113, 114: Heat sinks (second heat sink)
115: Heat sink
121, 122, 123, 124, 125: Temperature sensors
201, 202, 204: Thermal interfaces
203: Heat diffusion plate
205: Insulating material
206: Space
207: Bolt
210: Casing
211,212: Tube connector
213: Fin
214: Flow path
215: Partition
216: Hole
301, 303: Inlet connector
302, 304: Outlet connector
305: Flow path
306: Fin
307: Header
308: Footer
309: Turn unit
401, 402, 404, 405, 406, 407, 410: Arrows
500: Analysis unit
1000, 1000A, 1000B, 1000C, 1000D: Automatic analysis devices
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-109326 | Jun 2019 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2020/019799 | 5/19/2020 | WO | 00 |
